Researching Peacebuilding in Africa Reflections on Theory, Fieldwork and Context Routledge Studies in Peace, Conflict and Security in Africa Series

This book examines the multifaceted nature of conflict and the importance of the socio-economic and political contexts of conflict and violence and shows how to support ongoing initiatives and programs to build sustainable peace on the African continent.

Drawing on a range of conceptual framings in the study of peace and conflict, from gender perspectives to institutionalist to decolonial perspectives, the contributors show how peacebuilding research covers a whole range of questions that go beyond concerns for post-conflict reconstruction strategies. Chapters focus on the methodological, theoretical and practical aspects of peacebuilding and provide a toolbox of perspectives for conceptualizing and doing peacebuilding research in Africa. Anchored in African-centered perspectives, the book encourages and promotes high-quality interdisciplinary research that is conflict-sensitive, historically informed, theoretically grounded and analytically sound.

This book will be of benefit to scholars, policy makers and research institutions engaged in peacebuilding in Africa.

Introduction Part One: Concepts, Theories and Methodologies 1. Overview of Recent Trends In African Scholarly Writing On Peacebuilding 2. When theory meets method: Feminist peace research in Africa and how to make the strange familiar and the familiar strange 3. A Mission to Civilize: The Liberal Idea of Peacebuilding in Africa 4. The Ethics of Research and Fieldwork-based in Conflict-affected Settings 5. The Application of Qualitative Research Methodology in African Contexts 6. Quantitative Research Methods in Field-Based Peacebuilding Part Two: Case Studies 7. Understanding Complex New Wars in Africa: The Example of The Sahel 8. Researching Women, Unpaid Care Work, and Peacebuilding in Darfur 9. Research in a Conflict and Peacebuilding Context: Narrations from Fieldwork in Nigerian Violent Theatres 10. Epistemological and Methodological Considerations in Peacebuilding Research – Experiences from the Borana of Ethiopia 11. A critique of the conceptual documents that frame UN and AU practice of Peacebuilding 12. Doing Research in the ‘Silicon Savannah’: Digital Media, Peacebuilding and Constructions of (In)Stability in Kenya 13. Postconflict Emotions at Home: Researching Zimbabwean Soldiers

Ismail Rashid is a Professor at Vassar College, USA

Amy Niang is an Associate Professor in International Relations, Faculty of Governance, Economics and Social Sciences, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Rabat, Morocco